4 Replies Latest reply on Aug 30, 2017 4:13 PM by amybeth47

    Revolutionary War Pension Arrearages

    Newbie
    amybeth47 Aug 26, 2017 8:55 PM

      I have a question regarding a Revolutionary War pension for Daniel McCoy (S40985).  According to a letter dated 9 December 1820 with a pension payment voucher for the Philadelphia agency for the second quarter of 1821 (Settled Accounts in RG 217), he was not entitled to arrearages.  He was inscribed on the pension role of the Pennsylvania agency on 10 July 1820 retroactive to 8 June 1818.  He never received any pension payment while he was living. The administrators of his estate received a payment of $86.93  from 4 March 1820 to 30 January 1821 when he died.  My question is why was he not entitled to arrearages to 8 June 1818 when he was added retroactively to the pension role.  The letter of 9 December 1820 does not give a reason as to why he was not eligible for arrearages and I cannot find anything in the Pension Act of 1 May 1820.  

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        • Re: Revolutionary War Pension Arrearages
          Scout
          jdeiss Aug 28, 2017 9:37 AM (in response to amybeth47)

          This shows that they paid him, or heirs, $215.16, to include arrears from  8 June 1818 until 4 September 1820.

           

           

          It appears the fact of arrears was brought up many times, but the Pension Office and the Treasury Auditors determined that he had been paid in his lifetime, with the exception of what was paid the heirs in the settled account after his death. .

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            • Re: Revolutionary War Pension Arrearages
              Newbie
              amybeth47 Aug 29, 2017 7:13 AM (in response to jdeiss)

              The problem is I went through the pension payment vouchers for the third and fourth quarter of 1820 and the first and second quarter of 1821 and the only payment voucher that I found was the one paid in May, 1821 for $86.93 to the administrators after his death for the period from 4 March 1820 to 30 January 1821 when he died.  There was a copy of the letter dated 9 December 1820 to him stating that no arrearages would be paid with the pension payment voucher.  I do not believe he ever received the $167.16. shown on the above form from his pension file.

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            • Re: Revolutionary War Pension Arrearages
              Adventurer
              cherkea Expert Aug 30, 2017 8:42 AM (in response to amybeth47)

              Thank you for contacting History Hub about your query. It seems that you have done a lot of research so far. 

               

              The records state that he did receive full payment. Fold3.com has the digitized version of the Index to Final Pension Payment Vouchers.

               

              In order to verify whether the payment was received and if vouchers exist, you would need to go through every quarter of each year in the Philadelphia agency files of the Accounting Officers of the Treasury (RG 217) from the beginning of when his pension was approved. It is up to NARA to provide access to records. We do not interpret or resolve discrepancies. However, one should consider that some records may not have survived.

               

              More information about pension payments and decisions can be found at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Reference staff can be contacted at archives1reference@nara.gov. This article about tracking these payments is quite helpful for understanding what records we have. This one from the Virginia Commonwealth University may also be of some interest. It might be worth it to contact the Pennsylvania Historical Society and PA State Archives, which contain the state-level records relating to pensions. More information regarding payment discrepancies may be there.

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                • Re: Revolutionary War Pension Arrearages
                  Newbie
                  amybeth47 Aug 30, 2017 4:13 PM (in response to cherkea)

                  I did check the Index to Final Pension Payment Vouchers at Fold3 but his does not have a star on it indicating it is not in the Final Pension Payment Vouchers.  I checked the Final Pension Payment Vouchers at the National Archives when I was there but there was nothing for him.  I checked the Settled Accounts of Pension Agents for the Philadelphia Agency (RG 217, Series 721) for the period from when he was issued a certificate in July, 1820 until when his administrators received the final payment after his death in May, 1821 but the only payment I could find was the one he received for $86.93.  I have been at the Pennsylvania Archives and he did receive a pension of $40 a year from Pennsylvania until 1 July 1820.  I used the article Follow the Money by Claire Prechtel-Kluskens as a guide when doing research at NARA and spoke with several of the Army archivists while I was there in June and August this year.  I will look at the other resources you suggested.  Thank you for your help.

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